Most times you hear motivational speakers saying “fire your boss and start your own business” but the fact is they are not sincere enough or don’t just know that the journey is tougher than it seems. The journey to being an entrepreneur is a two edged sword. You can get cut from any of the sides or both sides. That said, planning to start your own company is a great thing but you need to get this fact straight first.
Thus, before you take this journey, take this self assessment first.
1. What is your passion?
Please take a pen and paper and write it down
2. What’s your patience level from the scale of 1-10?
Again please write your answer down.
3. Why do you really want to start your own business and be your own boss?
Again write your sincere answer down.
4. When do you want to start?
Now the reason I asked you those questions is for you to really take out some time and think.
1. Passion: For me passion is what wake you up and keep you going daily. That strong emotion behind the things that you love to do that even when you are not paid for, you will still love to do again and again. Most of the time when I coach people who want to start their own business my first question is “What is your passion”? The reason is I really want to know what is driving them. Keep Reading…
You have to have that drive. And most time it’s best to build your business around your passion. The reason is that if you build your business around what you normally love to do, it will be easier to face the challenges when they come. Let me tell you a small story. When I wanted to start my first ever business, it was a Modelling Agency and I picked this business because I just love to see young people doing stuffs. I was very young, but like I said I had passion for this, but as a young starter I never knew that business don’t just make money as easy as it seems. So me and my business partner went out and printed 12,000 signup forms hahahaha. Seriously I’m laughing here. In our mind, we thought that 12,000 models, both guys and ladies will just come to our office and pay and pick up our form to be part of the agency so we can make millions at once… hmmm. My dear our office was beautiful, I mean well classy, but we were very disappointed as expected. We didn’t sell up to 5% of the numbers of the signup forms that we had printed. This is why your passion behind your business is really important because that’s what will keep you going when the money isn’t coming as you thought.
This was why I asked you the second question;
2. “what is your patience level?”
Fact is no matter how patient you can be, if you are doing a business that you normally don’t have passion for and money isn’t coming as you thought, you will get frustrated. Oops!
3. The third question is why you really want to be your own boss? What’s the reason behind this your new journey: Are you doing this because you just want to be financially free? Now you also need to answer this question yourself. Yes I agree there’s nothing wrong venturing into business and being one’s boss to be financially free, but the question I ask young starters and some even “grown”entrepreneurs is that after the money what next? Again you still have to decide this yourself. For me being my own boss is more than just trying to escape from 10 hours job or any boss and or escape from poverty. Being my own boss gives me a whole lot of joy, the innermost joy. That deep satisfaction. I create job opportunities for so many, I give many the opportunities too to use my company to learn so that they can also grow and when they also fire me as their boss, can see me as their mentor. So you see it’s a whole lot. I mean generations can benefit and also depend on it. Listen the foundation for a penthouse is very much shallow compared to the foundation of a skyscraper. That of a skyscraper is always very deep, so that it can carry the height and the weight put on it. Take the height here as the future projection of your business. How far do you what your business to go? If it’s just to feed you and your family, they you can as well just settle for a 9 to 10 hours job.
4. When are you starting?
In as much as I’m never a fan of procrastination, at same time don’t just jump in. Take your time and do your research properly. If you are still working for someone now, there’s nothing wrong with that but just make sure that being your own boss is in the long term plan if that’s what you want.
I know this is going to sound so mean, but… NOT EVERYBODY CAN BE THEIR OWN BOSS. Some still have to work!
In my next article, will show you how I raised my first One Million Naira ($2,770) to start my business so many years ago and how you too can do it. Note my articles here are all practicable and will never write what I’m not practicing or done before… Once again thanks for reading and don’t forget to drop a comment. Cheers
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